Scott Jennings shredded on CNN for blaming raging California wildfires on DEI hiring

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings sparked outrage on Wednesday night when he suggested diversity, equity, and inclusion policies were linked to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.

With multiple fires in the Southern California area engulfing tens of thousands of acres and leaving at least 2,000 buildings scorched, more than 7,500 firefighting personnel have been dispatched to battle the raging flames. At least five people have been killed, hundreds of thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate, and the fires are still at zero percent containment as high winds and dry conditions continue to feed the inferno.

While President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans have accused California Democrats and the Biden administration of “gross incompetence” over their response to the disaster, conservative media figures have decided the fires are a perfect opportunity to continue their anti-DEI culture war.

Similar to the right’s reaction to the Trump assassination attempt, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and airplane malfunctions, Jennings insinuated that diversity-hiring initiatives were behind the lack of containment of the deadly L.A. fires during Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN Newsnight.

“We have DEI, we have budget cuts, and yet I’m wondering now if your house was burning down, how much do you care what color the firefighters are?” Jennings asked, referencing a California program that aimed to change the primarily white male makeup of the state’s firefighting force.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), however, immediately pushed back on the Trump-boosting pundit’s suggestion, adding that she was “so tired” of conservatives finding a way to blame DEI.

“Because you are a woman or because — because I know that some of the right has been sharing these photos of the fact that I believe that the fire chief may be a woman or something — that has nothing to do with it,” she said. “We are looking at qualifications. What diversity, equity, and inclusion has always been about is saying, ‘You know what, open this up. Don’t just look at the White men. Open it up and recognize that other people can be qualified.’”

Crockett went on to note that if minorities are “good enough to build this country” and serve in the military, they “are good enough to serve in other ways.” She then made sure to let Jennings know that he was making his comments on a panel that was quite diverse.

“The fact is, stop trying to act as if only white men are the ones that are capable because right now, you’re sitting at a table with three very capable Black women,” she declared.

“I’m not,” he retorted. “I’m just simply saying that as a matter of public policy in California, the main interest in the fire department lately has been in DEI programming and budget cuts.”

Interjecting, CNN anchor Abby Phillip wondered if Jennings was “really blaming the fire department” at this point, prompting the conservative commentator to say he was instead “blaming the Democrats who run the state.”

Jennings, meanwhile, is far from the only right-wing media figure who has pointed the finger at DEI during the horrific tragedy in Southern California.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham grumbled that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to hold a Cabinet position, shared much of the blame for the fires. “Another DEI hire of the Biden administration,” Ingraham groused on Wednesday. “She is completely incompetent. Completely incompetent.”

“It’s DEI! That DEI, which is so sickening! What does it have to do a putting out fires?! But you got a city fire chief who thinks DEI is the number one issue!” Fox News contributor Leo Terrell raged later that night. “It’s insulting! And you know what? I blame the voters and I blame the media here!”